Pizza Hut stunt tarnishes Presidential Debates and Pizza Hut

So this is what it has come to. There is an upcoming Presidential Debate – Town Hall style. People in the audience can ask questions. We can all lean more about the candidates, etc. etc. American democracy in action. And then along comes Pizza Hut and offers a lifetime of free pizza – one large pie a week for 30 years – or a check for $15,600 to anyone who poses the question “Sausage or Pepperoni?” to either President Barack Obama or Republican candidate Mitt Romney during the live Town Hall-style debate next Tuesday. The media wasted no time in reporting the offer, so Pizza Hut withdrew the offer. But – whoa! – it created buzz, buzz, buzz. Click here for the AP story in Chicago Tribune.

It did not take long for the blogger world and the media in general to condemn this stunt. So Pizza Hut backed down. Here’s the spin:

Pizza Hut CMO Kurt Kane in a statement said that the “buzz” around the question — tens of hundreds of media outlets picked up the story — proved that the debate was important. “We’re no longer asking a few hundred attendees at the town hall presidential debate on Oct. 16 to pose the question, rather we’re bringing the question — sausage or pepperoni? — to millions of Americans,” he said. Full article at adage.com.